That battle has come in form of scathing criticisms and attacks, especially from members of his party. But somehow, he has always fought back and kept the position till the present. However, whether he will succeed in keeping his position as the helmsman of the party has been a subject of critical analyses by some political pundits for some time now.
Chijioke Odom, a lawyer and political analyst, pitched his tent with those who accused Tukur of being the problem with the party because, according to him, Tukur had a job to do and he went about doing it without brooking any opposition. “This is the situation; he was brought in to do a job, and he went in doing that job without brooking any opposition and without taking any prisoners.”
He explained to Sunday Independent that Tukur’s job was to keep Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President, from grabbing the party’s presidential candidate.
According to him, at the time of Tukur’s emergence, it was apparent that the party’s 2015 presidential ticket was going to be a straight fight between Jonathan (an Ijaw man) and Atiku (a Northerner from almost the same local government with Tukur).
“What Jonathan did” he said “to undermine and preempt him (Atiku) before he emerges was to go to his state to pick Tukur who was from almost the same local government with him – just separated by nine kilometres. In that case, it becomes impossible by political calculations and characterisations to have two key leaders of the party from the same area.”
Odom explained that the move was meant to make it impossible for Atiku to become the Presidential candidate of the party, since his kinsman, Tukur, was already the party chairman.
It was that job that Tukur was doing with all commitment, but which many of his contemporaries from his part of the country did not like and was moving against it, Odom added.
Lagos lawyer and president of Voters’ Awareness Initiative (VAI), Wale Ogunade, did not only agree that Tukur was the problem of the party. For him, from the formation of the party, those who chaired it had always been embattled. Naming them from Solomon Lar to Banabas Gemade, to Audu Ogbe and even to Okwesilieze Nwodo, he said they had been the problem of the party due to the process of their emergence.
He claimed that chairmen had always been imposed on the party by the powers-that-be, and as a result of that they waste their time fighting perceived enemies who they feared might be against their leadership.
“Unfortunately, all the PDP chairmen have always been the problem of the party. It did not start with Bamanga Tukur; all the problems of the party have been their chairmen. This is because they have never allowed the true process to produce the chairman; they have always foisted chairmen on the members of the party, and have always refused to obey the law of internal democracy,” he said.
But coordinator of Nigerian Unity Movement (NUM), Uzor George-Tiga, said those who were criticising Tukur as being the problem of the PDP were those who did not know him and what he stood for, or those who were being mischievous outright.
“I refuse to agree with them. I disagree with them completely because for the first time in the history of the party, an astute leader has emerged. He is somebody who is disciplined, who will stamp his feet to follow due process without minding,” he told Sunday Independent.
He agreed that no man was perfect, but that to a large extent, Tukur was a man who could not be easily swayed by financial inducement. “In Tukur, you find a leader who is loyal and yet does not believe in blind loyalty. So he respects the powers-that-be, and at the same time guides them aright.”
On whether Tukur would be able to weather the storm and make the party come out stronger, George-Tiga said it was possible, in view of the fact that many of those who constituted problems from within the party have already left. For him, the most important thing for Tukur is to look out for credible members who would help him build and nurture new structures in their states.
The speculation on whether Tukur was actually the problem of the party was resurrected on Sunday, December 2, when 11 governors of the party expressed disappointment with the leadership of Tukur. In a meeting they held in Abuja, the country’s capital, under the chairmanship of Godswill Akpabio, governor of Akwa Ibom State and chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, the governors accused the leadership of high-handedness.
Present at the meeting were Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, Idris Wada of Kogi, Jonah Jang of Plateau, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina and Emmanuel Uduagban of Delta.
Others were Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Martin Elechi (Ebonyi) and Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), as well as deputy governors of Niger and Kaduna states.
Governors of four PDP states were absent, which include Gombe, Taraba, Benue and Kebbi.
After the meeting, the governors met with the President and blamed Tukur for the problems in the party.
Accusations against Tukur have also been from outside the party, as even members of the new PDP (nPDP) have also criticised him. For instance, as the axe of expulsion dangled over Olagunsoye Oyinlola and a host of other members of the party, who were suspended by the PDP under Tukur, they also blamed Tukur. The group under Abubakar Baraje stated that the problems of the party were as a result of Tukur’s manipulations to send them out of the party.
Now coming from the group, seen as the most formidable force against Tukur’s leadership, perhaps meant Tukur’s camp must react. Indeed, he reacted during the twilight of November, washing his hands of the problems of the party.
Through his media aide, Oliver Okpala, the PDP chairman mounted a stout defence against the accusations of the Baraje group concerning his part in the party’s problems. He advised members of the estranged group to stop portraying Tukur as an antagonist, who is not ready to make peace with the combating forces in the party. He wondered how Tukur could have an influence on a meeting that solely is an initiative from the President.
“It is wrong and completely unreasonable for any right-thinking person to accuse Tukur of having a hand in the deadlock of the meeting because it is a presidential initiative and not an NWC (National Working Committee) affair, where Tukur presides,” he said.
“Therefore, there is no way he can get involved or frustrate such a presidential initiative. The so-called factional members should desist from insulting the integrity of Tukur, who is a nationalist.
“Tukur is not part of their political problem and therefore should not be seen as the arrowhead of their political fight. The earlier these people retreated from their rascality, the better for them.”
Notwithstanding, the accusation has continued and was re-emphasised last Wednesday, December 5, by Edet Isong, a publisher and immediate past chairman of Urue Offong Oruko Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, who claimed many of the people were elected officers in their states, who were busy serving their states passionately in their different capacities until Tukur came on board.
Isong said he must state it categorically that Tukur has not behaved like a father to all, as he ought to have behaved as chairman of the party. He expected that when the problem started, Tukur “should have acted like a good father by calling them to a meeting to talk to them”.
Magnus Abe, a senator from Rivers State, had had an axe to grind with his chairman when he declared recently: “The division started because members don’t like what Bamanga Tukur is doing in the party. His disregard for party rules, execution of party programmes and actions, and injecting of clauses into the party constitution without due consultation, are unacceptable impunity.”
The latest was on Wednesday, December 5, when Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, governor of Niger State, reportedly said Tukur had been trying to wrest the machinery of the party in the states from the governors. He cited what happened in Adamawa State where Tukur took over the party’s executive council from the governor.
As things stand at the moment, analysts believe that how Tukur manages all the accusation against him in the coming months would determine his fate.
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